Book ~ "Oliver, The Cat Who Saved Christmas" (2015) Sheila Norton

From Goodreads ~ Oliver the cat is a timid little thing and rarely ventures from his home in the Foresters’ Arms. 

Then his life changes dramatically when a fire breaks out in the pub kitchen and he is left homeless and afraid. But with the kindness of the humans around him, he soon learns to trust again. And, in his own special way, he helps to heal those around him. 

However, it isn’t until he meets a little girl in desperate need of a friend that he realises this village needs a Christmas miracle.

Oliver is a cat who lives with George, who owns a pub.  One night the pub, above which Oliver and George live, catches on fire.  Oliver wakes George and they get out alive.  Oliver is scared by the noises and takes off for the woods and gets lost.  He is found by Dan, who takes him to his house.  He and his girlfriend, Nicky, can't afford to take care of him but their neighbours, Sarah and Martin, recognize Oliver and contact George.  George has nowhere to go so is staying with his sister in London.  Sarah and Martin and Nicky and Dan agree to take care of Oliver until George can get get his pub rebuilt and move back.  As he waits for George to come back, Oliver begins to help the people in his community.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I loved it!  I didn't realize it was fiction when it caught my eye ... I was expecting a true story about a cat.  I enjoyed the writing style.  It's written in first person point of view from Oliver's perspective ... he is telling a kitten about how he "saved" Christmas last year.  BTW, Oliver is bilingual ... he speaks Cat and can understand what humans are saying, which helps him help the humans.  Everything is from Oliver's perspective ... for example, kids are human kittens and he refers to human hands and feet as paws and dogs on leashes as strapped.

Oliver is extremely likable.  Though he really misses George, his goal is to help people and that's exactly what he does ... and without the book being cheesy.  In addition to his many human friends, he is also friends with tomcat Tabby and Tabby's girlfriend, Suki.  The humans are likable too and it was fun to see how Oliver connected them, depending on what they needed.

I'm not sure who the target audience is but I think it would appeal to early teens and up ... it's not juvenile at all.